Experimental Rule Changes Proposed For Gaelic Football

The sin bin rule is clearly the best of all of the Rule changes as finally there is a proper sanction against cynical play in the final 10 minutes of a game. No more "take one for the team" rubbish as Joe Bloggs hauls down a travelling forward picks up a black card only to high five Joe Bloggs mark 2 onto the pitch. Lather Rince Repeat.

It also eliminates the scenario that we've seen in a couple of All Ireland finals where the ref feels he needs to lay down a marker and Black Cards someone in the opening minutes. Now rather than that players final being over they can sit out their ten minutes and return.

The other side of that is a referee who previously might not have been comfortable laying down a marker might feel emboldened now to do so as they know ten minutes in the bin won't likely ruin the game as a spectacle but might make players think twice about cynical play.

Replying To Canuck: "Side lines: good change.Hand pass : Who is going to count and how often will this be got wrong? First a striking action demonstrated by the elbow moving back creating a gap between the ball and the hand. Probably all ready there but not enforced. Number of hand passes restricted by a simple rule if you receive one you can not give one.Sin Bin: All infractions other than red cards punished by three minutes in the box (bin). The team plays short until the penalty is over. If the same player continues to foul (may be third trip to the box) red card and no substitution. Get rid of black cards.Kick outs: Not bad except as said cluttering of the space where the ball will land. May be could be controlled by the six backs and six forwards required inside the two 45 meter line until the ball goes beyond that line on the kick out side. Would certainly make mid fielders an important position with good fielding skills. Forget about the stupid mark stopping and slowing down the game. Belongs to another sport anyway."

How is the sideline good. Your forced to kick it into an area where the opposition can clog. You have one player less because you are taking the kick. So your forced to kick a contested ball at a man disadvantage. You're meant to have the advantage as the opposition put the ball out.

I have no faith in top brass's ability to improve the game and their constant introduction of new rules will ruin the game. If they implemented the rules that are already there, and have been there since the game began, there would be no need for this constant tinkering and we would see a very different game. Two crucial rules have been ignored for at least 20 years and it has drastically changed the way the game has developed and the type of players now chosen to play. It has also drastically changed players decision making with forwards now rarely ever taking on an opponent because 9 times out of 10 they will lose the ball.Quoted from the official GAA rule book.

When a player is in possession of the ball, it may be:- (a) carried for a maximum of four consecutive steps or held in the hand(s) for no longer than the time needed to take four steps;

17.Football: The tackle is a skill by which one or more players may dispossess an opponent or frustrate his objective within the Rules of Fair Play. A tackle is aimed at the ball, not the player. A tackler may use his body to confront the opponent but deliberate bodily contact such as punching, slapping, arm holding, pushing, tripping, jersey pulling or a full frontal charge is forbidden. The only deliberate physical contact allowed is that in the course of a Fair Charge one player only with at least one foot on the ground , makes a shoulder to shoulder charge on the player in possession.

Failure to implement the four step rule has left legitimate tackling almost impossible. Power is now more desirable over skill and players constantly grapple arms and when behind an opponent use their body strength to leverage over the shoulder of the opponent and halt his progress and get ball side again. In their defense the opponent is usually over carrying. It would be very hard to correct this now as it has become so ingrained but a good place to start would be any contact over the shoulders and especially near the neck area when tackling should be immediately penalized. Then gradually get stricter on tackling where the sole focus is not on the ball and get stricter on steps until we get back to where players are playing by the rules intended. I'm not going to hold my breath though.

Will the central council force these experiments through or will there be a democratic vote? The new proposed changes are very poor. How a working committee came up with these is unbelievable. I believe all these rules will make the game slower and more negative. For example, the sideline rule, all opposition players will get behind the ball. The kick-out rule, all opposition players will come outside the 45m as they are useless inside it. The mark at full-forward could be worth an experiment but don't think it will enhance the game. The 3 handpass rule is not worth a comment. The sinbin rule instead of a black card was the best imo.If we look at football throughout 2018, i think we seen the games evolve to become more attacking, in fact we seen the biggest shift towards attacking play in a long number of years. Can we just not leave our game alone and let it continue to evolve. For me the biggest change we need is a tiered championship where teams of a similar standard get to play against each other. The leagues prove this with good games. When you get matches that are unevenly balanced then supporters are not interested in this and teams are more likely to set-up defensively with no interest in winning only keeping the score respectable.

Replying To doratheexplorer: "How is the sideline good. Your forced to kick it into an area where the opposition can clog. You have one player less because you are taking the kick. So your forced to kick a contested ball at a man disadvantage. You're meant to have the advantage as the opposition put the ball out."

What surprises me doratheexplorer is I am sure every poster here knows the rules for a hand pass (formerly a fisted pass) but few scream to have it applied as intended. There may be no need at all to restrict the number if it was applied within the rules. One it would take longer to execute and would be intercepted more often. There by players making less choices to use it. More time to execute a legal tackle as the player giving the pass is in possession longer and can be shouldered. Often leading to the dislodging of the ball. I suspect the reason no known cares because everyone has bought into the type of keep possession game we are seen. If that is what I wanted to see I would just watch soccer with the ball over and back across the back going no where. Giving some of the clowns in the stands time to beat the sh-t out of each other because there is nothing to miss.A broken record on the hand pass. The elbow clearly seen to move back creating space between the ball and the striking action. Very easy to detect done legally but no interest in applying. Worse still it is now rampant in hurling. Very easy implementation here. Striking action with the opposite hand to the stick.

The only new rules Id agree with is the mark closer to goal, it reward quick ball in, good kick pass and catching or reward a defender reading the game and making the catch. It will hopefully bring defences out, it wont suit zonal defences as players can find space to make a mark.The sin bin is a good idea but the refs are so inconsistent with the black card, i cant see it going to well.

Other rules are not good, having to go forward from a sideline ball is a joke, its basically telling the player to kick it away, 50/50 ball most of the time. Its going to suit defensive teams cause you know they cant kick it backwards so drop everyone everyone back and wait for the 50/50 ball is coming in.The kickout is also a joke, there be no high fielding now at all, it will all be about pace, a player running onto a kickout, so a team will probably put there 2 fastest players in the middle and tell them to run into where the space is.The handpass rule should be at least 5 or the restriction should be when you go past halfway or something like that.